A Jasper County grand jury won’t hear evidence in a Hardeeville double homicide case to decide if a suspect will be indicted until at least February.

Daniel Brownstein, communications director at the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said Tuesday that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation is not finished and that the case will appear before the grand jury on or about Feb. 21.

Bernard Jenkins, 19, was arrested and charged in October with the May deaths of Desmond Brown, 25, of Hardeeville, and Octavia Scott, 26, of Bluffton. Jenkins was booked at the Jasper County Detention Center. Since his arrest, he has been transferred to the Beaufort County Detention Center.

Police allegedly found Jenkin’s blood at the crime scene, a SLED agent said at a preliminary hearing last week.SLED Lt. Shawn Harley said Jenkins’ blood was found on the car and on one of the victims’ clothing. Harley said Jenkins was the last person seen with Brown and Scott.

The bodies of Brown and Scott were found May 11 in a ditch on a dirt portion of Purrysburg Road beside a borrowed car that had struck a large pine tree. The car was described by police as a 2007 Infiniti four-door sedan. Emergency personnel were initially called to the scene for a car wreck with bodies on the ground.Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls said in May both deaths were caused by gunshot wounds to the head and the victims’ deaths were instantaneous.

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